On Wednesday Feb. 9 2011 I attended a benefit for the Greg Giraldo Fund - for children living in families with addiction. It was a star studded event that included acts by Jerry Seinfeld, Colin Quinn and Lewis Black just to name a few.
When Greg dies of an accidental overdose in the summer of 2010 he left behind his wife and 3 young sons. His wife created this foundation to help children with families of addiction as a way of using his death as a positive influence to help many children who live with parents of addiction.
There was a slide show of Greg performing at various stages in his career and you could see how the drugs took it's toll on him. His younger pictures showed a healthy, vibrant person filled with life and as time passed you saw the drugs take over and create a shell of a man. It was sad to see this great comedian have such a short life because of addiction. His sons came on stage after the performance and I felt so terrible for them, knowing they would now have to live life without their father because of drugs. I hope this foundation can do some good for the 11 million other families, just like his, that face this illness everyday.
